At this time of the year when the flu, strep throat and other illnesses are making their way through our children, friends and society in general, it is good for employers to be mindful of their options, but more importantly to plan ahead for employees who come to work visibly ill. While many people want to “tough it out” through an illness, the reality is that by toughing it out an employee may in fact be compromising the health of others and decreasing the productivity of an entire workplace. The time to ask what to do about such an employee is not when the employee sits down at his/her desk at the start of the work day or takes his/her place on the assembly line. Rather, the best time to consider how to handle these inevitable situations is well before they occur. More >

On February 4, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Federal Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) into law by issuing a final rule which implements two expansions of FMLA leave. More >

Employers routinely encounter employee situations that leave them in a bind: illness, pregnancy, or the rogue employee who walks out without notice. There is also another situation that can leave employers scratching their head and calling the HR department: what do you do when an employee is arrested? More >

A recent court ruling by the Sixth Circuit, which includes Kentucky, has received extensive publicity for its holding relative to employer’s obligations for employee lunch breaks. In White v. Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp., 11-5717 (6th Cir. App. 2012), the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the employee “bears some responsibility for the proper implementation of the FLSA’s overtime provisions […] an employee cannot undermine his employer’s efforts to comply with the FLSA by consciously omitting overtime hours for which he knew he could be paid.”[1]More >